Emotions Ignite
by FEmetalhead
Summary: Blood, battle, conflict.... yaoi? XD Ike fights on without his father, broken inside, but their arrival at Port Toha change everything.... IkexZihark & ElinciaxMia later Don't like, don't read. Rated M for a reason!
1. Chapter 1

**Well hey people! So, this is my first story on this site… and my first story that I'm actually going to keep up with (believe me, I've abandoned or forgotten about stories either out of laziness or forgetfulness, and sometimes constant writers blocks, all before I even knew about this site)**

**So, before I go on too much, I hope you like it, constructive criticism is welcome and OOC for all of em is a big possibility since its been a while for me playing Fire Emblem, haven't for a long time.**

**Tell me if you like it, or if you think I should just give up on this one and try something else…. XD though I won't be immediately agreeing with you since it's the first chapter I mean come on**

**Ok so here it is!!!!!**

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Through mid-day, the land of Crimea was bright with sun and the slight breeze that would be relaxing to any casual stroller outside. However, the breeze did not affect the amount of sweat dripping from Ike's body as he brought his sword down and clean through a vigilante blocking his path.

"Sweep the area one last time!" Ike commanded to the rest of the mercenaries, although the word "mercenaries" was beginning to describe them less and less as time went on. After all, the band of so-called "mercenaries" were growing emotionally closer as each day was passing, whether they realized it or not.

Boyd, proving to be a sort of rival to Ike (as usual), responded "Alright but don't think that's cuz you said so! I'll fight because I want to!"

His loud mouth nearly cost him his life though as a bulky, built and sweaty vigilante bellowed, swinging his axe at Boyd's head. The young loudmouth barely ducked in time, giving him a chance to catch his enemy off-guard for his lower body; the green haired brawler used his ducking position as strength to ram the brute's legs.

A loud, long "Dammit!" from the large man, as he fell, would have been a humorous sound if it weren't for the heat of battle, and Boyd's increased heart rate after nearly being killed by the man he was now beheading with his axe. Apparently there were two following the vigilante to reinforce him. After seeing Boyd's quick reflexes, though, the only thing that rose their courage enough to attack was a half-hearted "Chaaarge!!!"

So charge is what they did, only resulting in more bloodshed for the bulky men. Not to mention another risk of Boyd's life, for leaping into the air while swinging his axe side to side wasn't the safest (or most precise) way to defeat both of his opponents. For one, the cocky axe fighter immediately threw himself off balance before even reaching the two enemies. Even though he managed to slice straight through the cheek of the brute to the right, resulting in gushing blood and an angry yet pained scream, he decided to kick at the axe-wielder to the left while still airborne. Comparing Boyd's size to the vigilante's, this was obviously not a good decision. Because of this, the green-haired fighter left his ankle exposed in mid-air and the brutal man let out a laugh as he seized the opportunity. Grabbing Boyd's leg, the laguz-slaughtering vigilante threw the young man over his shoulder straight into a closed door, which did not give in to Boyd's impact.

"Ow, damn….." he said, holding his shoulder and scanning the ground around him for his axe with his hands. It was difficult, because his vision blurred from the impact. His eyes began to clear just enough for him to make out a large figure, with a weapon- an axe. The overly muscular vigilante began to smirk a murderous smirk at Boyd, going over to end the young man's life….

When, just as Boyd's vision cleared, he saw the bulky man squint and bellow in pain as a black blur flew across the man's back. The axe fighter felt the feeling come back to most of his body, and he realized the handle of his axe was resting under his foot. He gripped his weapon and looked up to see what had miraculously saved him from sure death. Zihark, a silver-haired sword master, with a slim body that completed his swift attacks and gracefully deadly swordplay.

He had only recently joined, in that very battle, in sympathy for the laguz. He was supposedly a vigilante, but he really wanted to help the fighters get through the vigilantes safely. But just like all "new recruits", what becomes temporary reinforcement turns into permanent employment. However, Zihark's destiny was much different, even from the second he might decide to join the team, he truly still has no idea what fate might hold for him.

Caught off guard from the flanks, and in severe pain, the vigilante who suffered from Zihark's stealthy strike turned around to face his attacker, but was decapitated with the swing of Boyd's axe.

On his feet once again, Boyd turned to Zihark and nodded his thanks- though it was too soon for the sword-wielder to nod back, the remaining vigilante turned his pain into anger and vengeance, striking the skinny man right on his temple with a wide fist of fury. The enemy, bulky and bleeding, was truly a terrifying sight. Yet Boyd was too prideful to let his vengeful enemy seize the opportunity to end the life of the man who had just saved his own. Before the brute even considered raising his axe to kill the unconscious blade master, he saw Boyd coming and within seconds had him suspended by the throat.

Struggling for breath, Boyd managed to choke out "You…. B-bastard…." while trying to dig his fingers into the vigilante's hand that was pressing on his windpipe, coming closer and closer to crushing it as he tightened his grip. He felt himself losing the strength to continue kicking and squirming, and his vision began to fade into what would become infinite darkness….

If it weren't for Ike, who came charging from the backyard of one of the brick houses commonly seen at Port Toha, Boyd would be in worse condition than out cold. Boyd survived, though, thanks to the brave young leader. The blue-haired sword wielder landed a perfect elbow on the vigilante's jaw, breaking it- as if having a torn open cheek weren't bad enough.

The bulky man instantly released Boyd, tripping over his own two feet from the impact of Ike's elbow. Ike landed a final blow to the brute's jaw, this time with his foot as the enemy fell. That was all it took to knock him out for a good few hours.

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After confirming that Ike had defeated the last of the enemy, and with the help of carrying the two unconscious men to the deck of the ship (with the help of Oscar and his horse) , the Greil mercenaries grouped up on the main deck of captain Nasir's ship.

"Any casualties?" Titania asked

"No, none thankfully. I've counted, everyone is here. If someone was gone, I would know it, I always get this feeling whenever we're going to lose someone…." Ike paused and gathered his thoughts, "Anyway, Boyd and our new recruit Zihark are below deck. Oscar and I rested them on the extra bedrolls that Nasir was kind enough to find for us and let us use, for which again I thank you…" Nodded Ike, to the captain, "It was a real close call with Boyd. Despite our petty rivalries, I believe that we should watch him more closely. He's no rookie, but he certainly gets carried away. Those men were huge, and so were their axes…." Ike shuddered from remembering face-to-face confrontations with the vigilantes, "If we're this early on, and we're taking hits like this from these prejudice laguz-haters, who knows what shape we'll be in for the road ahead. We need to use teamwork, people!" Ike finished, and Titania added, "Don't get too carried away with yourself there, Ike. You've got some things to learn yourself."

Ike rolled his eyes but nodded in agreement.

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One hour later, the ship had set out over the ocean to begin the voyage. The sun was beginning to show hints of setting soon, and Ike decided to check up on Zihark and Boyd. He couldn't explain it, but from the moment he saw Zihark he somehow admired him… his skill, his grace, his constant and swift stealth attacks.

His slim, fit body and his uniquely silver hair…… those qualities seemed to slightly interest him at the back of his mind. "He's really good with a blade and I guess he's exceptionally skilled if he's been on my mind this much, we could use more soldiers like him…." Ike thought to himself. Almost assuring himself, for some reason, that his skill with a blade was his reason for remembering this specific man.

Ike entered through the wooden door below deck, where there were rooms near; a door to the left, which was the commanders own private room (obviously Ike's) and another room to the right of the commander's room and directly in front of the entrance. Which is where Titania stayed. To the right of the entrance to the lower deck was a large open area. It would most commonly be used for storage, but since there were more soldiers than there were cargo, bedrolls lined the walls. When night fell, each person would sleep next to one another. It might not be entirely comfortable, but it saved room for supplies stored all the way at the right end of the area.

Directly in the middle bedroll of the left row, was Boyd, still sleeping. Oscar said he had checked up on him earlier, but his head was still light from the choking so he decided to get more sleep. He walked over, made sure he was still breathing, and then turned around.

In the same bedroll but on the opposite side of the hold, Zihark was sleeping. His soft, silky, medium-length hair was resting neatly against his face, with one strand of his silver hair in front of his eye. Ike began to walk over to him. As he got closer, he could see the longer part of the man's bangs touching his jaw just slightly, by its tips. Ike finally reached Zihark's bedroll, and standing beside it, he observed… watching in a seemingly admiring manner. Unlike Boyd, who snored occasionally, the swordsman peacefully inhaled, and just as calmly exhaled.

Ike began to gaze irresistibly at the man in his calm and calming sleep, and after a while he finally decided to stop taking advantage of the element of surprise. What if Zihark were to wake up, and find Ike staring uncontrollably at him? Well, maybe he would understand that his new leader would be concerned for a new member. He conflicted with himself in his own mind until finally he decided to quit wasting time. He knelt down, and felt the mans pulse, but as soon as he put his two fingers on Zihark's neck, he immediately noticed another quality about this fighter "By Ashera…." Ike quietly gasped to himself….

The man's skin was soft… softer than any skin he had ever felt. Even softer than some cloth or kind of fabric he'd had the chance to feel throughout his life so far.

Instead of losing himself in thought, Ike regained control of his mind. "Whoa, what am I doing? What the hell is going on with me…" he muttered to himself. He took Zihark's pulse, without actually "feeling" his skin this time, and was relieved- a bit more than he concerns himself for even closer comrades, which surprised even himself a bit- to find that his pulse was not abnormally fast or slow, but just right…

He felt an awkward feeling the longer he began to stay at the man's side, since he had no other official reason to be there, but just as he stood up, the swordsman awoke.

"Well hello there…." Zihark said to the blue-haired leader, groggy from his sleep, with a confused yet curious tone of voice, "I'd assume you're in charge here?"

Ike almost flinched as the man awoke from his sleep, and nearly blushed as he heard his mellow tone of voice, even though the man was tired….

"Well, I can be 'in charge' if you want to see it that way, but really I just kind of keep things going with the flow here, make sure everyone sticks together and things work out," Ike introduced almost jokingly, and nearly stammering.

"Isn't that would people get put in charge for….?" Zihark questioned in a friendly but sarcastic tone, and both of the men chuckled a bit, "Ah well its refreshing to see that you're a modest commander, it proves you don't have a massive ego like most of the other guys that are 'in charge', who put honor and pride before reason"

"Yes, so true…." Ike agreed slowly, hypnotized by the swordsman's wolf-life eyes, that were grey with a tinge of blue, but somehow more of an entrancing silver color that seemed to be more pronounced than what would be considered grey.

It put him in a trance of curiosity, admiration, and even a tiny bit of confusion on trying to figure out what the difference was between what his eyes would be like if they were wolf-grey or wolf-silver. Either way, the had a tint of cyan- a light blue sort of color, that could easily be mistaken for teal at the same time…. A very light teal?

Ike was perplexed.

"Uhhmmmm…." Zihark cleared his throat, "so I see we both use swords. I believe we should talk more of this tomorrow, but for now I need more rest, that vigilante was one big behemoth brute kinda guy…."

This snapped Ike out of his trance, "Oh, of course! Yes, tomorrow we'll continue. I'll look forward to it…." he paused, almost embarrassed, "Every swordsman has a different technique. Rest up!"

And with that, Ike left Zihark to his sleep.

By then, it was dark out. Not pitch black, but dark. He wondered how much time had passed since he was down there, and why he was feeling so strange ever since he met this man. "What the hell is going on with me…."

He felt a wave of exhaustion and decided to call it a night. His thoughts did not leave him but somehow he found sleep. It was a bit easy, considering the fact that he was feeling very strange feelings he was wondering about, but sadly couldn't take a guess at…..

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**Hmmm, so whats going on with Ike's feelings for Zihark? :O I believe I made it pretty much painfully obvious, lol…. Oh and yes I do use a lot of violence but hey come on its fun to write! It gets more focused on the yaoi as it goes on, just you wait…. **

**Anyway, review please! Constructive criticism is welcome! I'll try to update as soon as I can**

**This chapter was based off of ch. 11 in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, where you fight the vigilantes at Port Toha. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone! I'm very sorry it took me so long to update when I'm only on the second chapter, I had a short writers block and immediately near the end of it, I got into some…. trouble, which I won't give details for. But once I finally got my old laptop back, it crashed and I couldn't get it to work. Finally though, I have this new and better one! :D Not to mention the Microsoft Word on here is the new and updated version, hehe…. Anyway I apologize for the long introduction, enjoy Chapter 2! And PLEASE tell me what you think. **

_Lying half-awake, warm, and wrapped in his sheets in his bed, Ike embraced the feeling, knowing that it would be cooler up-deck, being that they are out at sea with the chilly breeze coming from the ocean. He knew that he had not sleep in too late, for Titania would have attempted to wake him by now, with additional scolding for being so lazy. He turned to wrap his arms around his pillow lying next to him, comfy and warm, when he realized- this was too tall and warm to be his pillow. His eyes widened as Zihark smirked, "Well good morning there, commander…"_

"GAH! What the hell!" Ike exclaimed, awaking from his deep sleep after falling off his bed to see Titania standing over him. "Ike! You were supposed to be up 30 minutes ago! The Greil Mercenaries are supposed to be out of bed by 8:00, but since you're the commander you need an EARLY START!" "AHH!" Ike screamed as Titania yelled at him louder. "Alright alright! I'm sorry! Just let me change!" Titania shot him an icy glare before slamming the door and storming up-deck.

"Ugh…. this sucks…" Ike muttered as he slipped out of his current pants to change into his armored leggings, feeling down because this was the exact opposite of the waking-up portion of his dream. This was the only part he dared to think about, he didn't want to remember Zihark in bed with him…

He struck himself on the head for even thinking about it for even a second. He just wanted to get on to sword training and hopefully sorting out his thoughts about his comrade. After finishing putting on his red cape, he rushed upstairs. He was too groggy, too tired….

On the deck, all of his comrades turned to face him. "Hey, Ike, just because you're in charge doesn't mean you're better than us, you're one of us mercenaries too. Just because you're in charge now doesn't mean you can just sleep in! It means the exact opposite!" Boyd lectured.

"If you don't shut your trap, I'm going to throw you overboard. I'm really not in the mood to deal with you right now." Ike threatened. Surprisingly, Boyd took the obvious hint and remained quiet.

"You need to calm down. It isn't Boyd's fault you slept in. He's right. He just needs to learn when to keep his mouth shut…" Titania glared.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. So what's on the agenda today?" Ike questioned.

"Well, first we need to speak to the captain for any details he can give us about the areas we might pass, and see what he knows about where we're going. Then we need to make sure we formulate a strategy if we find out what might help us. I've heard there are laguz from the bird tribe that are also pirates, out here at sea…. We must be prepared in case of an attack. They are said to be very dangerous to anyone that encounters them. But we can't afford to surrender. Understand?" Titania asked.

"Yeah. Everyone hear that?" Ike said.

"Of course, Ike." Zihark chirped with a polite smile.

Ike blushed yet again unexplainably, but managed to hide it by pretending to itch his left cheek with his right hand, covering most of his face. "Good, Zihark, I'm glad someone's listening. Are you ready to take up your sword in a spar against me? I advise you to take time to prepare yourself, I'm a force to be reckoned with, even in a spar!" Ike boasted.

"I'm sure that my grace can match your muscle" Zihark smiled at the cocky young leader.

Ike, once again, blushed because of Zihark's remark of his muscles. "Very true, you did, uh, seem pretty capable yourself out on the battlefield…" Ike stammered.

"Boy, what is going on with you?" Titania boldly queried, snapping Ike out of his trance.

"Oh! Uh, nothing, just a little bit tired still, that's all. I'm ready to prepare for these pirates! Zihark and I are just going to go over some sword techniques to familiarize with each other, maybe learn a thing or two. You ready?" Ike turned to Zihark.

"Yes Ike, I've been prepared for it ever since you brought it up! Well, I had it in mind anyway, so why don't we just go ahead?" Zihark smoothly replied, his voice sounding as silk-soft as his hair – at least to Ike.

It was afternoon now, and Ike had gone below deck to practice with Zihark.

"So, I see that a lot of your attacks are based on stealth and speed?" Ike asked.

"Why yes, Ike, it's interesting that you observed so well. That is exactly what my attacks are based off of. So I like having back up around the quicker opponents, because if they have more strength than I do, I could lose if I were to be in a grapple with them or in their grip in any way." Zihark responded.

"Well, I just wanted to have your back since you were new, so that's why I was watching you, and I just noticed your style…." Ike tried to explain, as if he was covering up a lie that Zihark knew about- when really he didn't know at all.

"Yes… well…" Zihark said, looking puzzled. "Shall we continue?"

"Oh! Yeah, right. Okay so, you ready?" Ike asked.

"Of course Ike, I've been ready" Zihark laughed.

"Then prepare yourself, here I come!" Ike exclaimed, lunging at his silver-haired adversary. He swung his wooden training sword up over his head in an attempt to knock Zihark to the ground by striking the back of his knee. Zihark, though, being quick and graceful, pivoted to the right side of Ike and lunged with his sword swinging toward Ike's back. Ike turned to look at Zihark, stunned that he had moved so quickly, but was caught off-guard by a blow to the rib which was meant for his back. Ike aimed for the myrmidon's leg again, this time near the ankle with a low sweep, and followed the blow with a tackle and attempted a headlock.

"Gah!" Zihark exclaimed, in a power struggle with Ike to avoid the headlock. "Do you manipulate all physically inferior opponents like this?"

"I try to when I get the chance" Ike smirked, wrestling Zihark to try and force him against the wall, thus succeeding in a headlock. That isn't what happened though. Zihark positioned his left foot behind Ike's right, and rammed Ike with the adrenaline that he had to make him lose his balance. Ike, not expecting to fall, gripped Zihark tighter due to being caught off guard once again. They went down together and laughing.

The laughing came out of nowhere. They continued to laugh as they began to realize why, because of such an intense power struggle between two opponents, ending as a tie between two friends. After all, this is what they were growing into, whether they realized it or not. Friends.

Soon after the laughing died, both of their eyes widened when they realized that Zihark had fallen on top of Ike. And with all of the laughter, Zihark hadn't gotten up. And Ike hadn't asked him to.

Ike was blushing at his worst now. His shy smirk and red cheeks came after noticing that Zihark's head automatically went to rest on Ike's chest for catching his breath after exhaustion and laughter. Ike wasn't the only one blushing.

Zihark was completely embarrassed. Ike began to become embarrassed too after realizing how much he was blushing.

"Umm… Get off me!" Ike shyly exclaimed, shoving Zihark off of him onto the floor beside him.

"I apologize for that, really! I was just tired…" Zihark was obviously panicking, but Ike assured him that it was no big deal.

"Hey, we were both struggling quite a bit huh? Good match, we'll have to do it again sometime…" Ike paused, "and don't fall on me again."

They both gave a nervous chuckle and went up-deck to the rest of the mercenaries. Luckily for them, no one saw their experience together. And little did they know, but from that point on, a bond was created between them that would soon be revealed to each other.

Night fell, later that day. The darkness was slowly coming, but not creeping. The day was softly shading, as if to use a reminding curtain of shade to those still stirring during the setting sun. A strange calm soothed Ike, as he thought of what was to be done and what was already sorted out. He was satisfied with his comrades, seeing their interest and effort in initiating a defense against any possible attackers at any time on the ship. He was with well-trained fighters and he was beginning to benefit from it, emotionally.

As the stirring of the mercenaries on the ship died down, and as more of them called in for the night, Ike decided he would too. But he wanted to speak to Titania first.

"Hey, Titania, when do you ever get sleep?" Ike asked curiously.

"What do you mean, Ike? I do sleep. I just like to call it a night when everyone else is asleep." She replied.

"Why though? Isn't it tiring? Some of us don't sleep until midnight." Ike questioned.

"Not for me. I can keep going with even just an hour of sleep. I'm a work-ready person, I'm always alert. I even sleep light. I'm always prepared." She once again responded.

"Well, were you always like this?" Ike carelessly queried.

"Now, aren't you bold?" she chuckled, "but to be honest, no… when your father…" she trailed off. "Ike, you need sleep. You should get some shut-eye. We'll discuss this more some other night, okay? Just don't make me come in there again to wake you up. You should be up before I have to yell. I'm helping you with being in charge of things, but I am not your mother."

"Alright…" Ike said. "I'm sorry. I understand. I'll get some sleep… you get sleep too though. Alright?" he said.

"Don't you worry about me, kid. You've got a long way to go." She smiled.

**So, what did you think? **** I personally felt that my grammar was lacking at some parts, and maybe thoughts/dialogue didn't go entirely the way I had planned… but I wanted to get something out there for anyone who's reading this, and anyone who might read it in the future. I do plan on making many more chapters. I don't, however, plan on taking this long to update ever again. I'll be writing more now, so stand by for updates! Oh, and thanks to my reviewers of the previous chapter! It's nice to see people already reading it. Anyway, to any new readers, feel free to review and tell me what you think!**

**This takes place between Ch. 11 and Ch. 12 of the game, when they're out on the ocean with Nasir's ship. **


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